Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The largest city of the Unova region: Castelia City. A city that is constantly bustling with people coming and going in seemingly every direction. Whether it’s tourists doing all kinds of sight-seeing, or up-and-coming Pokémon Trainers looking for the latest and greatest battles, there’s something new here every single day. For many years, despite how busy it always has been, it has largely remained peaceful. The same can also be held true for the rest of the region. However, that peace is soon going to be disrupted… Which is why a certain facility has been preparing a specific group of Pokémon Trainers, ready for this very moment.

“Rangers!” A woman started with a firm tone in her voice, talking to a group of 4 people. “The time is now. You are fully prepared to rise as the newest generation of heroes for the Unova region. A new story begins for all of you starting today. You’ve been trained for this very moment, to take on Unova’s latest threat head-on. You are to grow with your team not just as people, but also as Pokémon Rangers and Pokémon Trainers. I expect nothing but the best from all of you.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The group firmly responded in unison.

An alarm started to blare in the building that the people were located in, and a live video feed appeared on a giant computer screen for everyone to see. The video was showing the location and cause of the alarm, which was some kind of monster starting to attack a park in Castelia City!

“President Maxwell, Coal Head has just shown up in West Castelia Park,” A man in a lab coat said.

“Got it,” President Maxwell responded. “Alright Rangers, this is your time to shine. Z-Force Rangers, move out!!”

“Right!” The Rangers responded, and proceeded to make their way to the park.

Meanwhile, a few minutes before the attack in West Castelia Park, there were plenty of people taking in the peaceful atmosphere in the park. It was a perfectly comfortable summer day, so it was no wonder why everyone was spending time outdoors. Amongst those people was a young adult male hanging out at a picnic table, drawing on his tablet, all while his partner Water-type Pokémon was playing nearby.

“Don’t go too far, Lulu,” The man said to his Pokémon, seeing it approach a nearby tree.

“Brionne!” Lulu responded, turning around to raise one of its flippers before going to the tree to blow some water bubbles with its nose.

The man got comfortable at the table, and got to work on his latest drawing: Brionne’s pre-evolution Popplio. This Brionne, which the man gave the nickname of Lulu, has been his partner ever since he was young, and has been the only Pokémon he’s ever had. The man and Lulu coming out to the park to spend some time outdoors is one of their favorite pastimes, especially during the warmer times of the year. And both of them naturally had the mindset that their time in the park was going to be no different: Peaceful with the occasional laughter from nearby children and the ambient sound of all of the various cars and buses driving around the city. But that was all about to change, as a major disruption was about to strike the park in a negative way.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a bunch of boulders on fire fell into the park, causing immense panic with all the people in the park fleeing every which way to get to safety. Lulu’s Trainer was in shock, and spent the next several seconds processing just what was happening in the park. “Huh?!” He shouted. “What’s going on?!”

Lulu scurried back to its Trainer, understandably feeling quite scared by the suddenness of this situation. Lulu’s Trainer was putting his tablet back in his backpack, and was about to make a run for safety until more boulders fell behind them, so he and Lulu got under the table, unsure of where they could go.

While it seems like no more boulders are falling, things are still getting worse as a monster has arrived in the park. The monster that looks like a human mixed with a Coalossal. Coal Head has arrived in West Castelia Park.

“What in the world is that thing?” Lulu’s Trainer asked, confused, scared, and overwhelmed by the unfolding situation.

“Ah,” Coal Head growled. “The city park. A perfect place to form my hotspot!”

“Not unless we put your flame out!” Someone shouted.

“Huh?! Who dares?!”

Unlike everyone else that was running away from West Castelia Park, a group of four people were running into the park, right towards Coal Head! It was the Pokémon Rangers! And this time they were wearing different-colored uniforms. One uniform was colored red, one was yellow, one was green, and the last was pink.

“Wait, who are they ?!” Lulu’s Trainer asked himself. “And why are they running to that monster?! They’re gonna get hurt!”

“If you’re wondering who, that would be us,” The green uniformed Ranger said to Coal Head.

“Did you really think we were just gonna let one of Castelia’s parks be burned to a crisp?” The pink uniformed Ranger said.

“Not with us around,” The yellow uniformed Ranger said.

“Who are you?” Coal Head grumbled.

“We’ll show you,” The red uniformed Ranger said. “Let’s go guys! It’s morphin’ time!”

All four Rangers raised their left arm in front of their chest, and touched their right index and middle fingers onto a ring on their left wrist. The ring on their wrists started to glow in colors that matched their respective uniforms! The Rangers swung their left arm out in the opposite corner while raising their right arm vertically before pausing for a very brief moment.

“Z-Power, energize! Ha!” All four Rangers shouted while forming the letter Z with their arms, moved their arms in opposite circles to cross them, pushed their arms back out, and crossed their arms one last time so that their left arm was outside. Upon completing all of that, the Rangers’ entire bodies started to glow! All of them spread their arms out while putting them down before doing another set of poses.

The pink uniformed Ranger formed a heart with her fingers before putting one of her legs up, and a large amount of energy started to cover her from her legs all the way to her head, putting her into a suit and a pink-colored helmet with a butterfly-like silhouette for a visor. “Twinkle Tackle! Z-Force Pink!” She shouted.

The green uniformed Ranger put her hands together, squatted down, and started to come back up while spreading her arms out, like a flower was blooming. Following that pose was the same energy sequence as the Pink Ranger, only this time the suit and helmet were green with a leaf-shaped silhouette for the visor. “Bloom Doom! Z-Force Green!” She shouted.

The yellow uniformed Ranger swings his upper body to the right with both his arms facing in that direction, and swings back forward to form what looks to be a bolt with his arms. Just like the Green and Pink Rangers, he was also being transformed, this time with the suit and helmet being yellow, and the visor being a horizontal bolt. “Gigavolt Havoc! Z-Force Yellow!” He shouted.

Last up was the red uniformed Ranger. He put his arms out, had his palms facing the sky, pulsed his arms up twice before reaching his left arm all the way up while grabbing it with his right arm, and completed the pose by putting this arm formation out in front of him. He then transforms, with his suit and helmet being colored red, and his visor looking like a flame. “Inferno Overdrive! Z-Force Red!” He shouted.

“What the?!” Lulu’s Trainer said in surprise. “How did they do that?!”

“Grr, you’re superheroes,” Coal Head said.

“Oh my gosh, it actually worked,” The Pink Ranger said. “And it feels really weird, but in a good way.”

“I think this is neat!” The Green Ranger said. “Feel like I’m ready for anything in this!”

“I’m liking this!” The Yellow Ranger said. “I feel like I got a sudden burst of energy and power!”

“This is exactly what we needed,” The Red Ranger said.

“I don’t care what you are, I’m not going to let anyone get in my way!” Coal Head said. “Robo-Grunts!”

Out of nowhere, a large amount of humanoid robots descended from thin air, all in front of Coal Head. They were not here for a friendly meeting, they were here to defend Coal Head!

“Attack!” Coal Head shouted.

The robots started to charge at the Rangers, but the Rangers did not phase at the increase in defense. It looks like they were prepared for this exact scenario, too. “Rangers, go!” The Red Ranger shouted. And a fight has commenced.

“I feel like I’ve seen this before…” Lulu’s Trainer pointed out to himself as he was watching the fight unfold. “It’s like one of those superheroes you see in comic books or TV shows come to life. But now I’m starting to understand why they approach that monster in the first place. They’re here to protect Castelia!”

It was hard for Lulu’s Trainer to further understand or even follow what’s going on during the fight. Every Ranger was busy throwing punches and kicks at each robot that approached them, being broken apart one by one. Lulu’s Trainer seemed concerned for the Rangers though as there seemed to be a larger number of the Robo-Grunts than there were Rangers, but they were taking down the robots just fine. The real challenge comes when they start to fight Coal Head.

“Ok, let’s see what you’re truly made of!” Coal Head said, approaching the Green Ranger.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” The Green Ranger said, attempting to backflip away from Coal Head by kicking on him, only to be attacked on the very foot she was about to use to perform that very kick, falling straight to the ground.

“Amber!” The Pink Ranger said, running in front of her. “Take this!” She then said, taking out a weapon to fire a beam of light at Coal Head, sending him tumbling backwards.

Meanwhile with Lulu’s Trainer, he kept looking in the opposite direction of the fight, looking for an escape path. “Looks like that monster is distracted now,” He said to Lulu. “Let’s use this opportunity to make a run for it!” Lulu agrees, and both of them tilt the table over to start running, only to be stopped by some Robo-Grunts.

“Where do you think you’re going?” One of the Robo-Grunts asked.

“Uh, we don’t really belong here, so we’re just trying to leave,” Lulu’s Trainer responded.

“Get the human!” Another Robo-Grunt said, and all of them tried to leap at them.

“Whoa!” Lulu’s Trainer shouted as he jumped out of the way. “I really don’t like where any of this is going.”

Lulu jumps into its Trainer’s arms, and both of them try to run in a different direction, only to be stopped by more Robo-Grunts. It looked like most of them had already been destroyed by the Rangers, but it seems more are showing up. Lulu then jumped down, and looked at its Trainer, almost like it had an idea.

“I think I get what you’re saying,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “All of these guys are simply robots. Meaning there’s a lot of electrical parts in there, all of which will shut them down if we soak them!”

“Brionne!” Lulu firmly responded while nodding.

“Let’s do that then! Quick Lulu, use Water Gun!”

Upon hearing its Trainer’s command, Lulu shot a jet of water from its nose onto the Robo-Grunts, and sure enough, the ones that were hit short-circuited, and fell straight to the ground. Now that they had a form of defense, they actually chose to run to another table and hide again given the increase in quantity of Robo-Grunts, and Lulu’s Water Gun caught the attention of one of the Rangers.

“What was that?” The Yellow Ranger asked.

“I’ll go check!” The Pink Ranger said, heading to the direction of where the Water Gun was coming from. But as she was running there, she got attacked from behind by Coal Head. “AH!” She screamed. As she was falling to the ground, two gadgets had been launched from her, which resembled the ones that the Rangers were wearing before they transformed.

“Ah, what’s this?” Coal Head said, watching the gadgets fly towards the table that Lulu and its Trainer were hiding.

“No, don’t you dare!” The Pink Ranger shouted as she turned around to strike Coal Head with the same weapon that she used to protect the Green Ranger earlier, but it had little to no effect on Coal Head, as Coal Head protected himself with his arms this time.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Coal Head asked, mocking the Pink Ranger, and shoved her out of the way, making his way towards what the Pink Ranger had dropped.

“Amanda!” The Green Ranger shouted, making her way to the Pink Ranger to protect her, and struck Coal Head with a leaf-like sword.

“Stay out of my way!” Coal Head yelled, and shot a spew of fire from his mouth, forcing both Rangers to back up to protect themselves from being burned. “Now to retrieve what pinky dropped.”

“Don’t!” The Pink Ranger screamed.

“Amber! Amanda!” The Red Ranger said as he and the Yellow Ranger were approaching them.

“You two okay?” The Yellow Ranger asked.

“Yeah, but Coal Head is gonna get the spare morpher and Styler!” Amanda said.

Meanwhile, Lulu’s Trainer sees Coal Head approaching what Amanda had dropped upon being attacked by Coal Head. He didn’t know exactly what they did since he didn’t get a good look at what the Rangers used to transform, but he knew that they were important to them. He looked to Lulu, and both of them knew what they had to do next.

“We gotta protect whatever those devices are,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “I can only see this getting this worse should that monster get them. Let’s make this quick.”

“Brionne!” Lulu firmly said.

“Alright Lulu, Water Gun!”

Lulu shot another Water Gun, this time at Coal Head, catching him completely off guard, which gave Lulu’s Trainer plenty of time and room to run towards the gadgets and grab them. “Got them!” He said.

“Who did that?!” Coal Head yelled, still in pain and unable to see from the impact of the Water Gun. When Coal Head was able to see again, Lulu’s Trainer was not in sight again at first glance. “Whoever did that is going to regret it!”

It didn’t take long for Coal Head to find Lulu and its Trainer, as a group of Robo-Grunts were surrounding the table that they were hiding under. “We have found the culprit,” One of the Robo-Grunts said. “Underneath this table of wood.”

“Good,” Coal Head said. “Do not let them escape! I want to handle them myself.”

“Wait, someone else was here the whole time?!” Amber said in surprise.

“Maybe it was that guy that got the spare morpher and Styler,” Amanda said.

“Welp,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “Now we really attracted all of the attention.”

“We’ve got to help them,” The Red Ranger said. “Antone, Amanda, you go help Brionne and its Trainer.”

“Right!” Antone said.

“Got it!” Amanda said.

“Amber, you and I will distract Coal Head,” The Red Ranger said.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Amber said.

“Give us those gadgets immediately,” One of the Robo-Grunts demanded Lulu’s Trainer. “Or you shall be punished.”

“Look, I don’t know what these things even do,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “Nor do I really understand anything that is happening right now, and why you guys are even attacking in the first place. But what I do know is that you guys will use whatever these things are for things even worse than what you’re doing right now. And these things don’t belong to either of us. These belong to those guys! So I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect them and give them back!”

“Then we’ll just have to force them from you!” Another Robo-Grunt said.

“Bet on it!” Lulu’s Trainer said while getting on his hands and knees. “Lulu, spin and use Water Gun!”

Lulu hopped onto its Trainer’s back, and twirled around while shooting Water Gun, hitting all of the Robo-Grunts, and even spraying Coal Head. Amanda and Antone were impressed by this plan, and were able to finally approach him. “Nice shot!” Amanda complimented.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Antone asked.

“Thankfully no,” Lulu’s Trainer responded. “Do these things belong to you?”

“Yeah, they do,” Amanda answered.

“Thanks for grabbing those for us,” Antone said.

“You humans are getting on my nerves!” Coal Head said as he was approaching Antone, Amber, and Lulu’s Trainer. Before he could get any closer, Amber and the Red Ranger struck Coal Head from behind, and got in front of him to be with the rest of the group.

“Was that you that had Brionne shoot that Water Gun?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, though it was kind of an impulsive decision,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “I just know these things are important to you all, and I had to do whatever I could to protect them.”

“We appreciate that,” The Red Ranger said. “Though you do know how dangerous that was, right?”
“Yeah, I’m aware. But it was one of those situations where I had to choose between risking my own life to protect something important to you, and maybe even save Castelia. Or let Coalossal-wannabe get them, and cause even more chaos and destruction.”

“He does have a point,” Amanda said. “And it was his quick thinking that prevented Coal Head from grabbing them.”

“I don’t care if you’re with them or not!” Coal Head said to Lulu’s Trainer. “I will burn all of you out all the same if you don’t give me those gadgets!” Coal Head shot a bunch of flaming rocks from his mouth, aiming them at Lulu’s Trainer and the Rangers.

“Look out!” The Red Ranger shouted.

Everyone leapt in different directions, trying to dodge the rocks, though most of the Rangers except Antone were struck. Lulu and its Trainer also avoided being hit, but this recent escalation is causing Lulu’s Trainer to shudder in fear. Lulu hopped onto its Trainer’s shoulder to try and calm him down, but it wasn’t working.

“Hey man, you okay?!” Antone asked.

“I-I don’t know,” Lulu’s Trainer answered, still noticeably shaking. “I just wanna give your stuff back, but with how difficult this fight has been for you guys, now I don’t know if it’s a good idea to do so right now. Not when that monster is so aggressive.”

“Ugh, you might be right. This situation really is a double-edged sword.”

“I’m scared. I’m really really scared. I wish there was a way for this to end already. Why did any of this have to happen?! Just make it stop!!”

“Don’t worry, I get why you’re scared; It’s completely reasonable. Here, come with me, I gotta get you to safety.”

“But what about your teammates?! And where else can we run to hide?! We’re essentially trapped!”

“That’s right, human!” Coal Head said. “You have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You may as well surrender already and give me those gadgets so I can destroy this city!”

“You’re not getting your hot hands on him!” Antone said as he got in front of Lulu’s Trainer. “And you’re certainly not getting these devices!”

“Then I’ll happily finish you first!”

“Lulu, Water Gun!” Lulu’s Trainer quickly yelled without thinking.

Lulu jumped off of its Trainer’s shoulder to shoot another Water Gun, pushing Coal Head back yet again. “Maybe I’ll finish that brat first because I can’t stand water!” Coal Head said, shooting fire in every direction due to not being able to see again for a few seconds.

“Lulu, this is getting too dangerous,” Lulu’s Trainer said. “Rest up for now,” He added as he was taking out a Poké Ball, putting his partner inside of it.

“Good call,” Antone said. “Don’t want your Pokémon getting hurt from all of this.”

“Yeah, but now what?”

Lulu’s Trainer and Antone had to keep moving out of the way of Coal Head’s fire. Thankfully they escaped this attack unscathed, but it was becoming clear that Coal Head is getting frustrated.

“Ugh, this has gone on for far too long!” Coal Head said. “Give me those gadgets or else!”

“That will never happen!” Antone said. “Our answer is never going to change!”

“You know what,” Lulu’s Trainer said after he took a deep breath before walking forward. 

“Wait, what are you doing?” Antone asked Lulu’s Trainer.

“You want these so badly?” He then said, showing the devices to Coal Head before putting the ring on his left wrist and the Styler on his right wrist. “You’re gonna have to take them from me.”

“Wait, don’t do it!” Amanda yelled. “You don’t know how to use it! You could get seriously hurt!”

“What other choice do we have?!” Lulu’s Trainer snapped before taking another deep breath. “Look, this entire thing spiraled into something that I don’t think any of us saw coming. But we’re all in this mess together. And if we wanna defeat this thing and get out of this alive, we gotta work together and adapt to protect ourselves and Castelia. As a team. There’s not much else we can do. We’re out of options, and this seems like the best path forward in order to turn this fight around.”

There was a long pause before anyone else said anything. Lulu’s Trainer became confused and concerned as Coal Head slowly got closer.

“What?” Lulu’s Trainer asked with a concerned tone in his voice. “Was it something I said? Was I not supposed to do that? Did I do something wrong?!”

“No, no, you’re right,” The Red Ranger said. “You’re right in that we have to adapt, and let you help us. There really is nothing else that we can do other than that, because if we keep trying to protect you and those devices while we fight, that will only drag us down. Antone, teach him how to morph. He might be our best shot.”

“Right! Follow me!” Antone said, taking Lulu’s Trainer to behind one of the big boulders that Coal Head dropped.

“Amber, Amanda, let’s regroup,” The Red Ranger said. “We can do better than this!”

“Right!” Amber and Amanda said together.

“And I’ve got just the thing,” Amanda said. She took out the same weapon that she had been using throughout the course of the battle, which looks to be a wand, but instead of firing another beam at Coal Head, she performs a different action. “Twinkle Wand, Healing Mode!”

A dome of light surrounds the three Rangers, healing any damage they had taken earlier in the fight. Thanks to those healing powers, Amanda, Amber, and the Red Ranger are fully prepared to take on Coal Head yet again, and turn this fight around.

Meanwhile with Antone and Lulu’s Trainer, they found a boulder they could hide behind so that Antone can teach him how to use the gadgets. “Oh, I really hope I’m doing the right thing,” Lulu’s Trainer said while panting, taking another look at the action.

“Man, you’re absolutely doing the right thing,” Antone said. “And what you said seemed to have sparked a missing flame in all of us.”

“I did?”

“You bet it did! Hey, what’s your name, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s Jon.”

“Well, normally I’d be all ‘Nice to meet you, Jon,’ but now is definitely not the time for formal introductions! Right now, I gotta teach you how to use that morpher!”

“No, really?”

“Ok, I deserved that sarcastic response. So, the ring that’s on your left wrist is the morpher as well as a Z-Ring. Whereas the larger device that’s on your right wrist is the Capture Styler.”

“Oh, wait, this ring is the one that lets you transform?”

“Yep. Were you, by any chance, watching us the whole time before jumping in the way you did?”

“I was kinda trapped here after I couldn’t get out in time, so I was hiding under a picnic table, and that’s when you guys showed up. I couldn’t get a good view of exactly what you guys were doing, though.”

“Oh, so you already have a general idea of what to do then?”

“Sort of. I’m just so overwhelmed by all of this.”

“No problem, no problem! So, to start the morphing sequence, you tap the crystal on the ring with your right index and middle fingers while saying ‘It’s morphin’ time!’ Once you do that, swing your left arm out in the way that you saw us while holding your right arm up. After that, while saying ‘Z-Power, energize,’ you do the poses we did. To reiterate the poses, make a Z with your arms, circle them around, cross them with your right arm outside. Push them out, and bring them back in to cross them in the opposite way. If you do all of that right, you’ll be able to transform into one of us!”

“That… That sounds complex, even if I’ve already seen it done once.”

“Trust me, it’s not as complex as it sounds. Should you ever need a refresher in the future, there’s a visualizer on your Capture Styler.”

“Oh, this is a Capture Styler? This looks way different than the one that my father had when he was a Pokémon Ranger. Though that’s not important right now. Where do I even check on this thing?”

“There’s a help button in the top right corner of the screen. Tap that, and there should be a button that says ‘Morphing Pose.’ That will give you an animation of how to do it.”

“Oh, that’s useful actually. So, these two go hand-in-hand in a sense?”

“Yeah, you can put it like that! We gotta hurry back and help the team, though!”

“Right, right!”

“Come out and fight, cowards!” Coal Head taunted.

“Don’t worry about him, Jon,” Antone said. “I’ll protect you while you morph.”

“Got it,” Jon said. “Thanks.”

“Well, you ready?”

“I think so.”

“All right, let’s go.”

Jon and Antone finally walk out from behind the boulder they were hiding behind, with Antone being in front of Jon to give Jon some room to attempt to morph. Though those plans were quickly derailed as more Robo-Grunts surrounded Jon and Antone.

“Ya know, I’m getting kinda sick of these guys already,” Jon said.

“Ditto,” Antone said. “Let’s give you guys a taste of my Gigavolt Chargers!” Antone grabbed out two glove-like weapons from either side of his belt, and used them to strike the Robo-Grunts, sending a spark of electricity through their bodies.

Jon did the best he could to fight off the Robo-Grunts, spinning around, pushing them left and right, tripping them with a few kicks, and the occasional ground roll. Jon brushed off his shirt after he cleared all of the Robo-Grunts all of the way, and turned to Antone, who was just finishing the same. Coal Head tried to approach Jon, but Antone got in the way to defend Jon.

“Jon, hurry!” Antone turned back and shouted. “Do it now!”

Jon nodded his head to Antone’s request, and looked down at the morpher. “Ok, here goes,” He said after taking a deep breath. Jon then brought his left arm up, getting ready to start the morphing sequence. “It’s morphin’ time!” He shouted, tapping the crystal on the ring, and swung his arm out. “Whoa, ok, this is really happening. Ack, focus, Jon. Z-Power, energize! HA!” He later shouted, doing all the poses that Antone taught him.

Jon’s body started to glow after shouting the morphing command and doing the poses, in the exact same way that the other Rangers did! He is successfully morphing into a Ranger just like the others! Jon’s pose to transform involves him doing a waving motion with his arms pointed to the left, and completes the pose by waving his arms to the right, like waves of water. Following that saw him being covered by the same energy as the other Rangers when they transformed, with the suit and helmet that he is put into being colored blue. His helmet’s visor is shaped like a giant splash of water. “Hydro Vortex! Z-Force Blue!” He shouted, completing the morphing sequence.

“There you go!” Antone said with an excited tone in his voice. “You did it! You successfully morphed!”

“Whoa, I really did it,” Jon said. “This feels really trippy. But kinda cool at the same time. What do I do now?”

“Now that you’re morphed, you have a wide array of powers at your disposal! And for some reason you also become way more experienced in hand-to-hand combat in this form.”

“Oh, sweet! Ok, let’s help your teammates and clean up this mess then!”

“That we shall!”

Jon and Antone hop back into the fight, knocking down even more Robo-Grunts, and join the other Rangers in taking on Coal Head. With Coal Head unable to summon any more Robo-Grunts, he has to fight the Rangers by himself. From melee to range attacks, Coal Head seems to have something for all of the Rangers. Just when the Rangers finally get close, Coal Head finds a way to push them away.

“Sheesh, this guy just doesn’t know when to quit!” Jon said. “What else can we do?”

“He’s gotta have a weak spot somewhere,” Amanda said.

“Well, given he’s mostly made of fire, he’s very sensitive to water,” The Red Ranger said. “We saw that when the Blue Ranger had his Brionne use Water Gun on Coal Head.”

“We need more than just a simple Water Gun though,” Amber said. “That only stuns him temporarily.”

“Oh, of course!” Antone said while snapping his fingers. “Jon, your weapon!”

“My weapon?” Jon asked.

“Yeah, it’s on your belt!”

“Oh. You mean this?” Jon asks as he pulls his weapon from his belt, which looks like a fan attached to a water gun toy.

“Yep, that’s it!” Antone answered.

“The Hydro Blaster,” The Red Ranger said. “A weapon that specializes in range attacks, all of which involve water in some capacity. And given what I said already about Coal Head, that might be our key to victory.”

“Ooh,” Jon said. “Now this is something I can get used to! Let’s cool him down!”

Jon shoots a powerful blast of mist from his Hydro Blaster directly at Coal Head, dealing enough damage to send him tumbling to the ground, struggling to get back on his feet. “I hope you know that I’m nowhere close to being done yet!” He shouts as he finally stands back up.

“Rangers, get him while he’s vulnerable!” The Red Ranger commanded.

The rest of the Rangers charge at Coal Head, dealing even more damage with each hit from them, weakening Coal Head even further. A couple more shots from Jon’s Hydro Blaster later, and Coal Head gets sent flying across the park. He struggles to get up, let alone even try to use his attacks.

“Im-Impossible!” Coal Head stutters. “How did you weak Rangers get so strong?!”

“It’s called ‘teamwork,’” Antone said.

“And that very teamwork allowed us to come together, and find your weak spot to bring you down,” Amanda said.

“Not to mention how quickly we adapted to the sudden addition of a fifth Ranger,” Amber said. “One who made all the difference in turning this fight around.”

Jon looked at Amber with a slight blush on his face, even though their faces were still covered by their helmets’ visors. “And if you think you can just burn this place to the ground, think again,” He said after turning towards Coal Head.

“Rangers, let’s combine our weapons!” The Red Ranger said.

“Right!” Amber, Amanda, and Antone said together.

“Wait, ‘combine our weapons?’” Jon asked. “How do we do that?”

“Just watch, and you’ll know when to chime in!” Antone said.

“That’s quite vague, but I’ll try.”

“Let’s do it!” The Red Ranger said as he and the rest of the Rangers prepared their weapons. “Inferno Staff!”

“Gigavolt Chargers!” Antone said.

“Hydro Blaster!” Jon said.

“Blooming Crossbow!” Amber said.

“Twinkle Wand!” Amanda said.

 “Combine!” All the Rangers said, putting their weapons together into one powerful weapon. “Z-Force Rainbow Cannon!”

“Aww come on, this isn’t fair!” Coal Head said. “I nearly defeated you weaklings!”

“Target locked!” Amber said.

“Locked and loaded!” Amanda said.

“Ready!” Antone said.

“Aim!” Jon said.

“Fire!” The Red Ranger said, shooting a powerful rainbow-colored beam from the cannon directly at Coal Head.

Upon impact, Coal Head exploded into tiny stones instantly, signaling the end of the fight. It was a very difficult first fight for the Rangers, but they still came out victorious eventually!

“Is it over?!” Jon said. “Did we really win?!”

“I think so!” Amanda said with a similar amount of excitement in her voice.

Meanwhile, somewhere else unknown to the Z-Force Rangers, someone else had another idea in mind… “Raise him up,” Someone commanded.

Another person nodded at the person giving that command, and raised a slider on a control panel, launching some kind of beam towards Castelia City, hitting where Coal Head was standing before being hit by the Rainbow Cannon! The stones of Coal Head’s body started to roll back to the impact spot, building his body back up, and growing in size! Coal Head has been brought back, but was significantly taller; About as tall as a skyscraper!

“Look who’s back and bigger than ever!” Coal Head shouted.

“What?!” Amanda said in shock.

“No way,” Amber said.

“Come on, man!” Antone said. “Just when things were finally getting good.”

“I had a feeling this was going to happen,” The Red Ranger said.

Jon fell to his knees in shock. His jaw was seemingly on the ground. All he could do was just stare at his new sight. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” He said. “Now what?!”

End of Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Just when it seemed like the Z-Force Rangers had finally emerged victorious in their fight against Coal Head, somehow he was brought back, and was about as tall as a skyscraper! Most of the Rangers were shocked by this latest development, especially Jon, who was on his knees upon seeing what was in front of him. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” He said. “Now what?!”

“Worry not, Jon,” The Red Ranger said. “We’ve got something for this as well.”

“We do?”

“Indeed we do!” Antone said.

“And it’s really cool, too!” Amanda said.

“Just hope you’re not afraid of heights,” Amber said.

“Rangers, prepare to bring your Zords out!” The Red Ranger said.

“Right!” Amber, Amanda, and Antone said together.

“Wait, how do we do that?” Jon asked.

“On your Styler, there’s a button to activate Zord Mode,” Antone explained. “Tap that, and you’ll have a special capsule that looks like a Poké Ball that’s ready to be tossed. The Zord you get will depend on whichever Pokémon you have as your primary one, and it’ll be their final evolution if said Pokémon is capable of evolving. Do you have any other Pokémon with you?”

“No, Brionne is my only Pokémon, and it can evolve one more time.”

“Then your Zord is going to be Brionne’s evolved form. Think you can handle this?”

“Yeah, I think so. Let’s give it a try!”

“All right! We’re all set!”

“Fantastic,” The Red Ranger said. “Let’s do it then!”

“Zord Mode, ready!” All five Rangers said in unison, tapping their Stylers. Just like how Antone explained, a capsule that looks like a Poké Ball appeared on their belt, ready to deploy their Zords.

“Charizard Zord engage!” The Red Ranger shouted, tossing the capsule into the air, and out came a gigantic robotic Charizard that wasn’t too far from Coal Head in size.

“Primarina Zord engage!” Jon shouted while tossing his capsule.

“Kantonian Raichu Zord engage!” Antone shouted while tossing his capsule.

“Meganium Zord engage!” Amber shouted while tossing her capsule.

“Gardevoir Zord engage!” Amanda shouted while tossing her capsule.

With all of the Rangers’ Zords deployed, the Rangers hop into their respective Zords, ready to fight Coal Head once again. Once the Rangers have gone inside their Zords, they’re greeted by a spacious cockpit with several buttons, levers, scanners, and screens surrounding a control wheel.

“All right, I’m in,” The Red Ranger said.

“I’m in, too,” Amanda said.

“Let’s rock and roll!” Antone said.

“Let’s see what this can do!” Amber said.

“Whoa,” Jon said. “There’s so much stuff in here. Where do I even start?”

“Rangers, log in,” The Red Ranger said.

“How do we do that?” Jon asked.

“I can help you with that, Jon!” Antone answered. “You see that dock that’s next to your right arm?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Take off your Styler, and put it in that. That will log you into your Zord, and you’ll get full control of it.”

“Got it.” Jon took his Styler off his wrist, and placed it into the dock that Antone told him. “All right, I’m logged in.”

“So am I!” Antone said when he placed his Styler into the dock.

“I’m logged in, too!” Amanda said.

“Same here!” Amber said.

“We’re all logged in then,” The Red Ranger said. “Antone, can you teach Jon how to pilot his Zord?”

“Can do!” Antone said. “Jon, do you see the pedals by your feet?”

“Yep,” Jon answered. “Those are for going forward and backward?”

“Precisely. By tilting your control wheel forward or backward will pivot your Zord up or down. And if your Zord has a tail, like yours, you should have a control stick nearby to have individual control of the tail, making it ideal when attempting to jump.”

“Oh, that sounds simple enough.”

“Yep! And because your Zord is based on a Pokémon, you have access to all the moves that Pokémon can ever learn. You can register up to four moves for quick access with your Styler, and be able to use them by saying a voice command like you would in a Pokémon battle.”

“Oh, neat. So, I’ll just do these four moves here…”

“Make it quick Jon,” The Red Ranger said. “We’ll try to cover for you.”

“Already got my moves set,” Jon said. “But thanks anyway! Time to get moving then!” Jon seemed to be getting more and more confident about controlling his Zord, but that was short lived when he started to move. When his Zord started moving, it was grinding on the ground, catching Jon off guard! “Huh?! What’s happening?!”

“Jon, you’re better off jumping to move while on land!” Amber said. “Your Zord Pokémon is not really suited for land movement, but on the flip side, it’s the complete opposite when in water.”

“Whoops, forgot about that bit Jon,” Antone said. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s all good,” Jon said, still trying to catch his breath. “Let’s try this again, shall we?”

Taking Amber’s advice, Jon used his Zord’s tail to jump on land, and sure enough it’s working way better than when he first tried to move. Now that Jon knows the basics of piloting his Zord, the rest of the Rangers make their way to Coal Head.

“Took you long enough!” Coal Head taunted. He then proceeded to shoot fire at the Zords, but all of them jumped out of the way, while the Charizard Zord simply flew higher. “Hold still will you?!”

“Sorry, no can do,” The Red Ranger said.

“I can do this though!” Jon said. “Aqua Jet!”

Jon’s Zord leapt into the air, and became surrounded by water before charging right at Coal Head. The resulting impact made a big splash, and did quite a lot of damage to Coal Head, and Jon jumped out of the way in time before Coal Head struck his Zord.

“Maybe I should make you stay put first!” Coal Head shouted before making a large ring of fire around Jon’s Zord. “That should teach you to think twice before messing with me!”

“Welp,” Jon said. “He really does have me trapped, doesn’t he?”

“Hang tight, Jon,” The Red Ranger said. “Put up your flippers. I’ll swing down and pick you up.”

The Red Ranger tried to fly in to help Jon, but Coal Head kept attacking the Charizard Zord whenever it got close to him. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t get in range to help the Primarina Zord.

“Ugh, I can’t get close enough to help him!” The Red Ranger said in frustration. “Coal Head keeps attacking whenever I get close to him!”

“We gotta push him back enough to get Jon out!” Amanda said. “But how do we do that?”

“We just gotta hit him enough till he’s far enough!” Amber said. “Petal Dance!”

Amber’s Zord gathered a bunch of leaves, and shot them all at Coal Head. She was now locked into this attack for a little while, leaving the other three Rangers to cover for her.

“Well, if he took really heavy damage, and is based on a Coalossal, then I don’t see why he can’t be weak to Fighting moves either,” Antone pointed out to himself. “So let’s give Brick Break a shot then!”

Antone’s Zord quickly approached Coal Head, and swiftly chopped him, sending him back a bit further. The plan seems to be working so far, as two consecutive attacks have indeed sent Coal Head back a few more steps with each hit. With each hit, multiple stone shards shot from Coal Head’s body.

“Hey, that gives me an idea actually,” Amanda said as she was watching the shards fall. “Let’s use Psychic!”

Amanda’s Zord’s eyes started to glow a sky blue, and most of the shards that fell onto the ground suddenly lifted into the air, only for them to be shot back at Coal Head, dealing even more damage.

“Phew, it’s getting a little hot here,” Jon said.

“Hang on a little longer Jon, we’re almost there,” The Red Ranger said. “Dragon Claw!”

The Charizard Zord began to fly towards Coal Head, and stuck him with extremely sharp claws before quickly flying away. Once the Charizard Zord got out of the way, the Meganium Zord was able to fire two more Petal Dances in a row before falling into a confused state.

“Guys, can you cover me for a bit?” Amber asked. “My Zord’s confused after using Petal Dance.”

“Don’t worry about a thing, Amber!” Antone said. “We got this!”

“Jon, let’s give it another go,” The Red Ranger said. “You ready?”

“I think so,” Jon said. “Might wanna hurry though, cause Coal Head’s getting ready to attack again!”

“‘Ready’ is right, fool!” Coal Head said as he was crouching, charging up another attack.

“What’s he doing?” Amber asked.

“Whatever he’s doing, it’s not gonna be pleasant,” Amanda said.

“Uh, I think he’s gonna try and erupt!” Antone said.

“Wait, I think I’ve got an idea,” Jon said.

“You’re gonna have to make it quick, Jon,” The Red Ranger said. “Who knows how much time you’ve got!”

“I’m gonna need room for this! I think I know what I can do to set myself free, and attack Coal Head at the same time!”

“Then go for it! You’re our best shot!”

“Got it! Sparkling Aria!”

Jon’s Zord rose into the air, posing on its tail, and a giant bubble of water emerged above it. The giant bubble then bursts, sending lots of water everywhere, putting out the ring of fire that was surrounding him, and threw Coal Head off balance! Jon’s Zord was then able to jump out of the way, and join the rest of the team.

“Smart thinking, Jon!” Amber complimented.

“You okay?” Antone asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Jon answered.

“Thank goodness you finally got out,” Amanda said.

“Rangers, I think it’s time we put these things together,” The Red Ranger said. “Prepare for Megazord transformation!”

“Right!” Antone, Amanda, and Amber said.

“‘Megazord?’” Jon asked. “How do we do that?”

“See the dial on the back end of your Styler?” Antone asked.

“Yeah,” Jon said.

“Press it, and spin it counterclockwise. That’ll prepare your Zord to combine with ours to form the Megazord.”

“Oh, ok. That’s easy enough.” Jon said before he pressed on the dial. “Primarina Zord ready!”

“Gardevoir Zord ready!” Amanda said.

“Meganium Zord ready!” Amber said.

“Kantonian Raichu Zord ready!” Antone said.

“You might be the one Jon,” The Red Ranger quietly said to himself before pressing his Styler’s dial. “Charizard Zord ready!”

With all of the Zords ready to combine to form the Megazord, they all started to glow in rainbow colors! On top of that, they seemed to be moving on their own with no input from the Rangers at all, which made Jon concerned. “Wait, how come I can’t control my Zord anymore?!” He asked in a slight panic. “Is this supposed to happen?!”

“Don’t worry, man, this is completely normal,” Antone said. “The Zords are programmed to combine into the Megazord on their own with the blueprints that have already been made. All you have to do is wait to be transferred to the Megazord’s cockpit.”

“Phew,” Jon sighed. “I wish you told me that sooner.”

“Sorry, my bad.”

“Focus, you two,” The Red Ranger said. “Z-Force Megazord transformation engage!”

Just like Antone explained, the Zords have begun to change shape to be fit together. The Gardevoir and Meganium Zords make up the Megazord’s legs. The Primarina and Kantonian Raichu Zords make up the arms. And finally, the Charizard Zord makes up the torso and head, retains Charizard’s tail, and has Charizard’s wings. Upon being connected, the head of the Charizard Zord opens its mouth to bring down another face, this one for the cockpit, and the eyes form the windshield. The Megazord’s assembly is finished, and the Rangers are transferred from their Zords to the Megazord’s cockpit.

“Z-Force Megazord transformation complete!” The Red Ranger said.

“Whoa,” Jon said. “I didn’t realize how high up we actually are. Check out that view! This is really cool!”

“That view is gonna be even better once we take care of Mr. Hotshot over there!” Antone said.

“True. Can’t afford to be distracted now.”

“Rangers, now that we’re in our Megazord, we have to work together to control it and fight,” The Red Ranger explained. “Even in this form, we’re still capable of using our Zord’s respective moves. It’s up to each of you to trigger them. Amber, Amanda, you two are responsible for controlling the legs.”

“Got it,” Amanda said.

“No problem!” Amber said.

“Antone, Jon, you two are going to be controlling the arms,” The Red Ranger said.

“All right,” Jon said.

“We got this, Jon!” Antone said.

“Yeah, I hope so,” Jon said. “And I’m assuming you’re doing the rest like flying and whatnot?” He then asked the Red Ranger.

“Indeed I am,” The Red Ranger said. “It may seem daunting at first, but as long as we work together and know when to make our move, controlling the Megazord will be a breeze for us. Everyone on the same page?”

“I’m so ready!” Amber said.

“I think so,” Amanda said.

“Let’s do it!” Antone said.

“How could I say ‘no?’” Jon said.

“All right,” The Red Ranger said. “Rangers, let’s move!”

After the Red Ranger had explained how the Megazord is controlled, Amanda and Amber get the Megazord moving towards Coal Head. Coal Head was about to crouch to charge the attack he wanted to use earlier, but shot very large boulders like he did during the first phase of the fight instead. While the Megazord didn’t take direct damage, it got scraped by one of the falling boulders, taking Amanda and Amber by surprise.

The Megazord has gotten close to Coal Head, and both of them grabbed each other. “Good thing you decided to come closer!” Coal Head said. “Because now I can have a much easier time burning you!” He added as he was preparing to shoot fire at the Megazord.

“Not if I can help it!” Antone said. “Brick Break!”

The Megazord was the first of the two to let go, and used the Raichu arm to chop Coal Head, pushing him back. “We wouldn’t be doing any of this if you didn’t refuse to give me those gadgets!” Coal Head said.

“Sheesh, can you just let it go already?!” Jon said. “Why are you so obsessed with these things?”

“I already told you why! I don’t think I need to repeat myself any further!”

“Hate to tell you, but my answer isn’t gonna be any different either.”

“Then I’ll just have to put you in a spot where you can’t get out!” Coal Head then created another ring of fire around the Megazord. The Rangers tried to jump over it, but it couldn’t get enough altitude from the jump to clear the flames.

“Oh boy, deja vu,” Jon said. “I’ve just been in this place before.”

“We could try to fly out of here though, right?” Amanda asked.

“That’s what I was about to try,” The Red Ranger said. “Amanda, Amber, get ready!”

“Got it!” Amber said.

“Ready when you are!” Amanda said.

“Do it!” The Red Ranger said.

“Going up!” Amanda said.

“Oh no you don’t!” Coal Head said before shooting boulders at the Megazord. “You’re staying grounded!”

“I don’t think we can fly out of this!” Amanda said. “What else can we do?!”

“Wait,” Antone said. “Jon, your Sparkling Aria! That got you out of what we’re dealing with right now!”

“Good idea,” The Red Ranger said. “That very well might be our key out of here.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try,” Jon said. “Let’s give it a go then. Sparkling Aria!”

The Megazord jumped up, and formed a bubble very similar to when Jon did it with his Zord. And when the attack was fully charged, it bursted in the same way, putting out the ring of fire and hitting Coal Head.

“It worked!” Jon said. “Should we try to fly again?”

“We got room for it now,” The Red Ranger said. “Girls, on my mark!”

“Ready!” Amanda and Amber said.

“Let’s do it!”

With plenty of room thanks to the Sparkling Aria, the Megazord was able to take flight. It started to circle Coal Head, firing multiple attacks of multiple kinds, weakening him further and further. This enhanced mobility proved to be a huge advantage for the Rangers, as Coal Head was barely able to move to begin with.

“Sheesh, he really doesn’t know when to stop,” Jon said.

“I wouldn’t talk so soon, blue boy!” Coal Head taunted before shooting a boulder at one of the wings, causing it to spiral out of control.

“One of the wings is heavily damaged!” Antone shouted. “We’re gonna crash!”

“Hold on tight!” The Red Ranger yelled, pulling his control wheel as far back as it could go. “Everyone pull!”

The Megazord was seemingly inches away from crashing into the ground, but it pulled back up with less than a second to spare. The wing took severe damage though, making it not possible to sustain flight any further. So the Rangers were left with no other choice but to land and finish the fight that way.

“That’s more like it,” Coal Head said. “On the ground, where I can easily get you!”

Coal Head crouched once more, attempting to use his most powerful attack. The Megazord was quite a far distance away, making it seem like it was not going to reach Coal Head in time before he shoots his attack!

“We can’t fly, we’re really far away, we don’t know how long he takes to charge that,” Amanda said to herself. “Gah, what can we do now?!”

“Don’t worry,” Jon said. “We can still get there quickly, and prevent him from shooting that attack. Aqua Jet!”

The Megazord surrounds itself in water, and shoots down towards Coal Head at blistering speed. The timing could not be any better, as Coal Head was nearly done charging his attack! This impact throws him off balance even more, leaving him completely vulnerable!

“Please tell me he’s almost finished,” Jon said.

“Looks like it,” Antone said.

“And we have the perfect opportunity to finish him,” The Red Ranger said. “Megazord Blade, activate!”

Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant sword appeared in one of the Megazord’s hands. The Rangers were preparing to perform one of the Megazord’s most powerful attacks! The end of the battle is near!

“T-t-t-t-t-that’s a big sword,” Jon stuttered.

“And it’s the very weapon we shall use to end this fight!” The Red Ranger said. “Jon, why don’t you do the honor?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah. You were a big help for us in this fight today. I think you deserve it.”

“I’m with him!” Antone said.

“So am I!” Amber said.

“I agree as well!” Amanda said. “You have no idea how amazing you were in helping us!”

“You guys sure?” Jon asked.

The rest of the Rangers simply nodded their heads upon hearing Jon’s question. This level of trust seemed to touch Jon in a particular way. Almost like it’s a feeling that he hasn’t felt in many years. He couldn’t help but put a warm smile on his face.

“It would be my honor,” Jon said after taking a deep breath. “What do I need to do?”

“Let me set you up first,” The Red Ranger said. “Z-Force Megazord Blade Water-type mode!” Upon the Red Ranger’s command, the sword’s blade became covered in a jet of water. “Jon, stand on the pedestal behind me, and perform your Z-Move pose. That’ll set the Megazord to perform its final attack, the Z-Move Finisher.”

“‘Z-Move Finisher?’ No offense, kind of a cheesy name. But I get what you’re saying.”

Jon got up from his seat, and walked over to the pedestal that had risen behind the Red Ranger. Jon couldn’t help but stare out of the windshield and towards Coal Head, struggling to do anything. Before Jon did his pose, he took a deep breath before doing anything else.

“You got this, man,” Antone said.

“Go for gold!” Amber said.

“You can do it!” Amanda said.

“Bring it home,” The Red Ranger said. “And in case you forgot, the pose you do is the one you did while morphing.”

“All right, here goes,” Jon said before crossing his arms. “Z-Move Finisher, engage!” He then said as he was doing the same pose he did during his morphing sequence. “Z-Force Megazord, Hydro Vortex!!”

The Megazord then surrounded itself in a whirlpool of water, and when it did charge at Coal Head, Coal Head was caught in the very whirlpool! Coal Head was swirling around the whirlpool out of control, while the Megazord rode the whirlpool. Swirling around, not knowing what’s left and what’s right, Coal Head was struck by the Megazord.

“NO!” Coal Head screamed. “I can’t be defeated like this! I nearly had you Rangers on my first try!” Just when it couldn’t get any worse for Coal Head, he explodes upon defeat, with no signs of him remaining other than the stone shards from his body.

“Is-is that it?!” Jon asked. “Is it really over?! Did we actually win?!”

“Indeed we did!” Amber said.

“That was awesome!” Amanda said.

“And we get a sick view as a bonus!” Antone said.

“Z-Force Rangers, mission accomplished,” The Red Ranger said.

The Megazord disassembles itself, the Zords go back into their capsules, and the Rangers finally power down from their suits. They quickly run up to each other to greet each other following their victory against Coal Head. This was going to be Jon’s first time actually meeting the people that were in the suits, too.

“Jon, my man!” Antone shouted, running to the group. “You were amazing!”

“I was?” Jon giggled and asked with a shy tone in his voice.

“You sure were,” Amber said. “You adapted really quickly, and were able to help the team immensely. Not bad for someone that was just enjoying their day in the park.”

“The way you learned on the fly, just like that!” Amanda said. “I’m kinda jealous! It took me, like, over a week to learn everything!”

“Indeed, you proved to be a huge help for us,” The Red Ranger said.

“Well, like I said earlier, me jumping out like that was a matter of life or death,” Jon said. “And if that monstrosity got these things, who knows what kind of destruction he would’ve caused.”

“But it was your quick thinking and actions that not only saved us, but the city as a whole,” Amanda said. “You were so incredibly brave doing that.”

“I agree on that,” The Red Ranger said.

“Heh, I usually don’t like my daring side sometimes,” Jon said.

“I could add on to the compliments and praise, but I think we all get the picture by now,” Amber said. “Jon, you have no idea how thankful we are for your actions.”

“Absolutely,” The Red Ranger said.

“And, you finally get to meet us in the flesh!” Antone said.

“Oh yeah,” Jon said. “I know most of your names, but I don’t know one.”

“Well, just to reiterate, I’m Antone,” Antone said.

“I’m Amber,” Amber said.

“My name’s Amanda,” Amanda said. “Great to meet you Jon!”

“I suppose I’m the only one whose name you don’t know,” The Red Ranger said. “My name’s Taylor. It’s great to finally, formally, meet you, Jon.”

“Yeah, it’s great to meet you all,” Jon said. “And I should be thanking you guys for giving me a chance and letting me help you in that fight.”

“Well, it’s like what you said earlier, Jon,” Antone said. “Our best way out of that was to adapt and work with what we had.”

“Indeed,” Taylor said. “It seemed to have sparked a flame in all of us, because no offense to you guys, but we didn’t exactly start off the greatest.”

While no words were said for a brief moment after Taylor’s comment, Amber, Amanda, and Antone all silently agreed with what he said. “But, I will say this,” Taylor added. “We all want to thank you, Jon. You did prove to be a massive help for all of us, and balanced out the team.”

“I really left that much of an impact?” Jon asked. “Because, truth be honest, I was worried that you guys were gonna yell at me for using your stuff without your permission.”

“Man, how could we be mad at someone like you that literally saved us?” Antone said. “But I do understand why you’d be concerned at the same time since you’re not an official member of our team. Yet.”

“Wait, ‘yet?’” Jon asked. “Are you implying something, Antone?”

“I think I’m catching your drift, Antone,” Amber said.

“I like where this is going, too!” Amanda said.

“Taylor,” Antone said while turning to Taylor. “What do you think? Should we?”

“Well, while Jon is right in the fact that he did grab and attempt to use our equipment without permission at first,” Taylor started. “He did it with good intentions, as his very actions saved Castelia, eventually allowing us to secure victory in the first place. The bravery you showed with us left a very strong impression on all of us. And given what the other Rangers are asking, I think it’s pretty clear. Jon, how would you like to join us? As an official member of our team?”

“Wait, what?!” Jon asked in surprise. “Me?! Join you guys?! As a Ranger?!”

“You bet!” Antone said. “You showed so much potential and can be a great teammate! I think you’d make a natural fit with us!”

“I second this,” Amber said. “Not to mention how badly we’re in need of our fifth Ranger right about now. I’d say you’d be the perfect fit for that role.”

“Plus we’d have a new friend to hang out and work with!” Amanda said. “I can only imagine how much more fun we’d have with you around, Jon!”

“Well, obviously being a Ranger is something I never really thought of,” Jon said. “And, being asked to do so right here and now has no doubt caught me off guard with little to no warning. So, I dunno if this path really is for me right now. But given how well we were able to work together, and how much you guys want me to be with you, I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to joining, even if I’m still a little unsure about it right now. Did any of that make sense to you guys?”

“I get it,” Amanda said.

“So do I,” Amber said.

“Completely understandable,” Antone said.

“It’s a lot to process in a short amount of time,” Taylor said. “So we all understand what you’re saying, and how you feel. If you want, we can show you where our base is located, and get to meet the people that work behind the scenes for us.”

“You’re willing to do that?” Jon asked.

“Of course. Why don’t we all go back together?”

“I like that,” Amber said. “Get to take a nice walk after a hard-fought battle.”

“And we can spend some time getting to know you, Jon!” Amanda said.

“I only see great things coming out of this!” Antone said.

“Well, if all of you are up for it, then I guess I’m up for it, too,” Jon said.

“All right!” Amanda shouted. “Let’s waste no time and get back to Base!”

The entire group proceeds to make their way out of the park, and head for their base, which is located in the heart of downtown Castelia. While they were walking away from the park, Jon turns back to see one of his favorite places burned to a crisp following the battle. The sight does make him feel sad, but also grateful at the same time because of the fact that the rest of Castelia didn’t suffer a similar fate.

“Sad about the park?” Amanda asked upon seeing Jon turn back to see the park.

“Yeah,” Jon said softly. “That’s one of my favorite places to go to during this time of year to just relax and not worry about much. It’s really one of my comfort places. But now I’m not gonna be able to go there for a good while now.”

“I feel you,” Amanda said. “Not being able to visit somewhere that you consider your comfort place feels like a piece of your life is being ripped away from you. It absolutely sucks. Even if you try to go somewhere similar, like one of Castelia’s other parks for example, it just doesn’t feel the same. It’s the strong connection and attachment you have with that place that makes you refuse to want to leave.”

“Exactly. But while it does suck that West Castelia Park is burned to a crisp, I’m glad that it was only that, and not the rest of the city. It could’ve easily gotten so much worse.”

“You know it,” Antone said. “And the best part is that it’s not going to be gone permanently. It’ll be back in no time flat, and you’ll be able to visit there again soon enough.”

The Rangers and Jon continued to chat until they arrived at the Rangers’ base. It was much more than just one building though, as this base was a whole complex. The sight of this complex took Jon by surprise, as his expectations for what the base could look like were way smaller and lower.

“Sheesh,” Jon said. “This is much bigger than I was anticipating.”

“Yeah, isn’t it awesome?!” Amanda said. “There’s so much stuff that we have here!”

“Yeah, but we’re not here for a grand tour,” Taylor said. “We gotta meet the Professor and President to grant permission for Jon to officially join us should he decide to do so.”

“You ready?” Amber asked.

“I guess so,” Jon answered.

Everyone walks into the main building of the Ranger Base, and are greeted by a massive lobby area. They didn’t spend much time in the lobby though, as they walked right past it to go to another area of the building. A short walk later sees the group arrive at their destination, and are greeted by the same two people that were talking to the Rangers before they left for West Castelia Park.

“Welcome back, Rangers,” President Maxwell said.

“Congrats on completing your first mission!” A man in a lab coat said.

“Well, while we did get the job done, it wasn’t exactly the smoothest, especially at the beginning,” Taylor hesitantly said.

“Maybe, but you all figured it out, got your act together, and worked as a team,” President Maxwell said. "You all are just starting out after all, so there’s bound to be mistakes along the way.”

“Not to mention how quickly you turned it around when your new friend here stepped in,” The lab coat man said.

“Wait, you already know what happened?” Jon asked.

“Wait a moment,” Maxwell said. She stared at Jon with a surprised look on her face for a brief moment, almost like she had to do a double-take on who she was looking at. “You look familiar. Tim, can you load the info for him one more time?”

“Can do,” Tim answered.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘info?’” Jon asked.

“When you put on your Capture Styler, it quickly scans your body to send information about you to our database,” Antone answered. “It’s a quicker way of registering you onto the team.”

“Got it,” Tim said, displaying Jon’s information on a giant computer screen. “Here it is.”

“There’s no denying this,” Maxwell said after reading Jon’s information. “I think this is him. Jon, can you tell me your middle name?”

“Uh, it’s Michael,” Jon nervously answered. “A-am I in trouble or something? I don’t like what’s going on.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing bad at all!”

“You’re Donovan’s son, right?” Tim asked.

“Y-yeah,” Jon answered. “How do you know my father?”

“We used to work together a lot,” Maxwell said softly. “He brought you to his local base from time to time, he talked about you a lot to us, and we even got to meet you a couple times. I couldn’t see you as often given I had a higher position at the time, but Tim was one of your father’s co-workers at his base.”

“It certainly has been a long time since we’ve last seen you,” Tim said. “You probably don’t recognize us or even remember us, don’t you?”

“No, sadly, I don’t,” Jon answered. “Even with you guys telling me that we’ve met before I still can’t remember. It's been a hot minute since I've been to my father's base after all.”

“That’s ok. We figured you’d answer with that. Last time we saw you was when you were just starting in kindergarten after all. Now look at you. You’ve grown into a fine young man.”

“Wow, really that long ago, huh?”

“Indeed. In that case, you already know my name as Tim. I also go by Professor Acacia. I’m the main Pokémon researcher here at the Castelia Ranger Base.”

“And I run this base as its President,” President Maxwell said. “Sandra Maxwell is my name. Good to see you, Jon.”

“Wait,” Jon said. “‘Maxwell’ and ‘Acacia?’ Those names sound familiar now that I think about it.”

“It’s possible your father told you many stories about us,” Tim said.

“Yeah, part of that is definitely true. He would always tell me about whatever missions he would go on and the Pokémon he met along with some of the people that he worked with.”

“Wait, Jon,” Amanda said. “Is your dad a Pokémon Ranger as well?”

“Yeah, he was,” Jon said.

“And a well-respected one at that,” Sandra said. “He was one of the top Rangers of his time.”

“Whoa,” Amanda said. “That’s so cool! I would love to meet him!”

“Well, about that…” Tim said.

Jon quickly looked at Tim with a worried look on his face, almost like he knew where the conversation was about to go next. But Tim saw Jon’s look on the edge of his vision, and knew he should stop before he said anything else.

“Actually, we’ll leave it there,” Tim said. “We have more important manners to take care of right now.”

“Oh, right,” Amanda said.

“Phew,” Jon quickly and quietly said under his breath. “That was close.”

“Jon, are you ok?” Amanda asked.

“Let’s just stop there like Professor Acacia said. That’s a bit of a touchy topic for me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“So, Professor Acacia, President Maxwell, do you two already know why I’m here then?”

“Indeed we do,” President Maxwell said.

“We watched that battle you five were in, and we were impressed by not only how quickly you improved throughout the course of the battle, but also how well you worked with the Rangers, Jon,” Tim said.

“And we were wondering if it would be ok for Jon to join us,” Taylor added.

“Well, I think that is something for Jon to decide,” Sandra said. “While I would be happy to welcome him, it’s ultimately up to him if he wants to be a Ranger or not. So, Jon, would you like to join us?”

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Jon said to himself. “Look, there’s still so much about being a Ranger that I don’t really know about, even if one of my parents was a Ranger himself. And like I said to you guys already, I never really thought about going down a path like this, so I’m not entirely sure if this truly is the one for me. However, at the same time, I’ve always wanted to help other people and Pokémon in some way. Not to mention President Maxwell and Professor Acacia had a strong connection with my father. So, this really could be the best opportunity for me for a multitude of reasons. That’s not even counting how well we already work together. After all that we’ve been through already, I’d be kinda dumb to turn down a big offer like this. Maybe this is where I’m meant to be. I think I’ll go for it.”

“YES!” Amanda shouted with excitement. Everyone quickly gazed at her since they were caught off guard by her sudden yelling. “Sorry,” She quietly said while blushing. “I got a little too excited.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you, Amanda,” Antone said. “I’m just as excited to know that Jon is going to be a part of our team.”

“Same here,” Taylor said. “I see nothing but great things coming out of this.”

“It’s no doubt going to get much more interesting and exciting around here, too!” Amber said. “I’m excited to see where this goes next!”

“I don’t think we need to know anything else about how the team feels about this,” Tim said.

“You know it,” Sandra said. “Jon, now that you’re going to be a part of us, you are going to be staying here along with the rest of the team. In other words, Castelia Base is going to become your new home.”

“Oh, I have to move here?” Jon asked. “But I live not too far from here in Castelia. Is there any reason why?”

“It’s mainly so that the Rangers can be together at all times, and we have many things available for everyone working here spanning multiple facilities. Plus if we have any big, difficult missions that see you guys departing very early in the morning, it’ll be much easier for all of you to be here. Not to mention the extra security that we have here, too, making this place very safe to live in. On top of that, if any of you require close monitoring for whatever reason, it’ll be much easier and quicker to do it here instead of off campus.”

“That makes sense I guess. That’s just so sudden to me, so it kinda caught me off guard.”

“Well, if you do indeed live close to here, then I don’t see an issue with alternating between here and your house,” Tim said. “That way you can take your time with moving your belongings here, and still be able to live in the environment that you’re already comfortable in while serving as a Ranger. Madam President, what do you think?”

“Well, how close is your house from here, Jon?” Sandra asked.

“Are the suburbs considered to be too far from here?” Jon asked. “Because I live close to West Castelia Park, as a point of reference.”

“That is a bit far, but nothing that a bicycle can’t reach. I suppose I can allow that. Rangers, how about you all show Jon where he’s going to be staying then?”

“That we can do!” Antone said.

“Is he going to be on the same floor as the rest of us, President Maxwell?” Amanda asked.

“That is a much easier ‘yes,’” Sandra answered.

“Sweet! Come on, Jon! Let’s go see your condo!” Amanda then said as she grabbed Jon’s wrist and started running toward the back exit leading to the condominium.

“Whoa, Amanda, slow down!” Jon said.

“Just keep them out of trouble, ok?” Sandra asked Taylor. “And also tell them that he’s in the same hallway as the rest of you.”

“You got nothing to worry about Madam President,” Taylor answered before he, Antone, and Amber ran after Amanda and Jon.

Along the way to the condominium, Jon was shown the other facilities that are found on the complex, such as a large cafeteria, the courtyard, a library, a Pokémon Center, and a facility dedicated to rescued Pokémon. All before arriving at Jon’s condo.

“And here we are!” Amanda happily said.

“So, this is where I’m gonna be staying?” Jon asked.

“Indeed it is!” Amber answered.

“Wait, I think we forgot to get the key,” Jon said. “Do we have to go back for it?”

“Actually, you see that panel to the right of the door?” Antone asked. “Raise your Styler in front of it with the screen facing the wall.”

“Oh, ok,” Jon said when he stepped in front of the panel, seeing a light scanning his Styler, beeping, and a click from the door was heard. “Whoa, these things can do everything!”

“Yeah, they’re essentially our IDs,” Taylor explained. “We use them to access many parts of the Base.”

“Ready to see your condo, Jon?” Amanda asked.

“Yep,” Jon answered. “Let’s head inside.”

The entire group walked into a rather bare condo that looked more like a large hotel room. It had a rather cozy-looking environment with calm colors, a large bed that was begging for someone to jump into it, a relatively-large TV, a desk next to the stand that housed the TV, and finally a tiny kitchen, with a bathroom next to the exit. Jon let out a pleasing exhale upon seeing his condo for the first time, and he walked directly toward the window on the other side of the room.

“Well this looks comfortable!” Jon said while he was looking around, feeling and sliding his hand across the bed. “Better than I was honestly expecting! I could certainly get used to being in a place like this!”

“Yeah, I was caught off guard with how well the condos were when I first joined as well,” Amanda said. “I’m not complaining though, ‘cause it’s great!”

“And if one of us wanted to visit us in our condos, we get a prompt on our Styler to grant permission for them to enter, and if we grant them to enter, then they get a copy of the special key to enter without needing someone to come to the door,” Antone explained. “It is up to the original Ranger to decide if whoever they granted permission to gets to keep that copy or not. That way we have some privacy control here.”

“That sounds so convenient actually, oh wow,” Jon said. “I can be lazy and still let people in?! That’s just music to my ears.”

“If we weren’t active superheroes, then it definitely would be a lazy person’s paradise,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, that’s the only bummer about this,” Amanda said. “We aren’t given too much time to sit down and relax very often. Most days we’re on patrol with other days we get sent to other parts of Unova for a mission.”

“Dang it,” Jon whispered.

“It does sound intimidating at first,” Amber said. “And I imagine it’s going to be a massive shift for someone like you. But we can always help you get adjusted, answer any questions, resolve any issues that you might have during your time here, or just simply spend some time with you so that you won’t have to feel lonely.”

“She’s right,” Taylor said. “We’re all here for each other, including you, Jon. So if there’s anything that you feel like you need, you can always ask any of us.”

“That’s great everyone, thank you,” Jon said. “Really. I’m definitely gonna take y’all up on this offer for the first few weeks of me being here, ‘cause there’s SO MUCH that I need to learn in a short amount of time, and that’s no doubt going to leave me feeling quite overwhelmed at first.”

“No worries!” Antone said. “Like Taylor said, we’re always open to help you out with anything that you need.”

“So, Jon, are you ready to get your uniform?” Taylor asked.

“Yep,” Jon answered. “I think we’ve kept everyone waiting long enough.”

“Hey, one last thing before we go down,” Amanda quickly said.

“What, Amanda?” Amber asked.

“While we’re heading back to the command center to get Jon into his uniform, why don’t we bring out our partner Pokémon so that Jon can meet them and we can meet his?”

“Ayy, that’d be sweet!” Antone said. “I’m in!”

“I love this idea as well!” Amber said.

“I’ve got no problem with that either,” Taylor said. “You in as well, Jon?”

“You bet I am!” Jon said. “Let’s start making our way there then!”

With no further time wasted, the Rangers leave Jon’s condo, and make their way back to the main area of the base, known as the command center. As they were making their way downstairs, they followed through with Amanda’s idea.

“So, who wants to go first?” Amanda asked in an awkward tone after a bit of silence, waiting for someone to step up first to send out their Pokémon.

“I can,” Jon said. “You guys kinda know who my partner is anyway.”

“All right, that’s fair,” Amanda said.

“Lulu, come on out!” Jon then said as he tossed his Poké Ball in the air.

“Brionne!” Lulu happily shouted upon coming out of its Poké Ball, and made a cute pose as well.

“What a cutie!” Amanda squeaked. “And I absolutely love the name you chose for it!”

“Haha, thank you,” Jon said with a slight blush on his face.

“Well, might as well bring out my partner next!” Amanda said. “Astrid, come out and meet our new friend!” She added, tossing her Poké Ball.

“Petals, you, too!” Amber said, tossing her Poké Ball.

“We’ve got a new member of the group Volty, so let’s get to know them!” Antone said, tossing his Poké Ball.

“Pyro, let’s give our newest member a warm welcome!” Taylor said, tossing his Poké Ball.

The rest of the Rangers’ Pokémon all appeared after having their Poké Balls tossed, revealing the very Pokémon that had the names their Trainers gave them. Astrid is a tiny humanoid Psychic-type Pokémon with green hair that was covering its eyes named Ralts. Petals is a quadrupedal dinosaur-like Grass-type Pokémon with a large leaf on its head, and smaller leaves surrounding its neck to form a collar. This Pokémon’s actual name is Bayleef. Volty is a small mouse-like Pokémon with red-colored cheeks, brown stripes on its back, and the tips of its ears and tail were black. It’s one of the most recognizable Pokémon in the world, which is of course Pikachu. The last Pokémon, Taylor’s partner Pyro, is a bipedal lizard with the tip of its tail being on fire named Charmeleon.

“Oh wow!” Jon said with the biggest smile on his face. “Look at all of them! Lulu, these are all of our new friends!”

Lulu was a little hesitant to introduce itself at first, but was reassured by Jon, and did a quick little dance in front of everybody. Everyone found Lulu’s dance to be adorable, as all of them had a warm smile on their faces and clapped. This amount of praise did cause Lulu to have a slight blush on its face.

“Aww, is Lulu a little shy?” Amber asked.

“Haha, yeah, he is, and a bit of an introvert just like me,” Jon answered.

“He’s so cute!” Amanda said. “Nice to finally meet you Lulu!”

The rest of the Rangers and their partners made their introductions to Lulu as they continued their walk to the command center. Once they finally arrive at the command center, they’re greeted by Sandra and Professor Acacia, who saw them coming in with a warm smile on their faces. “Welcome back, everyone,” Professor Acacia said.

“What do you think of your condo, Jon?” Sandra asks.

“I think I can get used to it,” Jon answers. “I do like it though.”

“I’m glad. Do you have any questions?”

“I don’t think so right now. My mind is just so overwhelmed with everything right now that I’m having a bit of a hard time processing everything that’s happening.”

“Understandable. This is a massive change for you that came so far out of left field that you didn’t know how or when to prepare for it. Amanda felt the same way when she first joined. But the other Rangers helped her adapt to her new life, and I’m sure they’re willing to do it all over again for you.”

“Absolutely,” Antone said.

“I’m willing to move everything out of the way to help you in any way, Jon,” Amber said.

“You’re essentially a part of our family now, Jon,” Taylor said. “So it’s only fair that we treat you as such.”

“And you’re not alone either,” Amanda said. “Even if you just want someone to talk to, we’ll be here for you.”

“On top of that, we have plenty of resources and services that can give you further help with your life here,” Tim added. “We want to make sure that life for all of our Rangers here is as painless as possible when they’re not out on missions.”

“Precisely,” Sandra said. “Again Jon, if you have questions, concerns, or anything else of that matter, then feel free to ask any of us. We’re all here to help.”

“Thanks everyone,” Jon said. “Like you said, President Maxwell, this is no doubt gonna be a huge change in my life. But I’m sure that nothing but good things will come out of me being a part of the team, and get me the answers to questions that I’ve been having for so long. I just hope I don’t become a pain in the neck and drag everyone down…”

“Jon, don’t you worry about that in the absolute slightest ,” Antone said while putting his hand on Jon’s shoulder. “We’ll get you up to speed with training and whatnot. And it’s okay to not get everything right with you being so new here. It’s definitely going to take time for you to adjust to your new life, but the main thing is that you just worry about continuing to act like yourself and not try to leave a bold impression.”

“Right, right,” Jon said after letting out a sigh. “You’re right, Antone.”

“So, Jon, ready to get into your uniform?” Sandra asked.

“Yep!” Jon answered.

“All right, your uniform will be found in the fitting room down the hallway. Professor Acacia, care to show him where that is?”

“Of course,” Tim answered. “Follow me, Jon. Rangers, if you want to, you can join us as well.”

The rest of the Rangers did in fact follow Tim and Jon to the fitting room that was not too far away from the command center. Upon arriving, Jon notices that each stall has a curtain that is color-matched to each Ranger. Tim opened the blue-colored curtain, revealing Jon’s uniform. The uniform was mostly white with blue accents for Jon’s Ranger color, and a giant Z was placed on the chest with all five colors of the team on it.

“Here it is Jon,” Tim said. “What do you think?”

“Ooh,” Jon said. “I like the colors. Blue on white is one of my favorite color combos, so I can definitely see myself wearing something like this every day, even if it is a uniform.”

“Then go ahead and try it on.”

“Right.”

Jon stepped into his stall to put on his uniform. Fortunately, it fits him perfectly, and the materials of the uniform felt very soft but sturdy at the same time without it feeling rough on the skin. Not to mention the uniform was very easy to put on, so Jon was able to be in and out of the stall in a matter of around two minutes.

“What do you think?” Tim asked.

“Fits like a glove!” Jon answered. “I kinda like this!”

“Do you need anything changed, or are you okay with it?”

“I can’t think of anything that I want to change. Feels pretty good.”

“Good,” Taylor said. “Better keep that in a safe place where you know you won’t lose it. You’re going to need to wear that uniform whenever we’re on duty together.”

“Makes sense,” Jon said. “Why else would I be given this uniform anyway?”

“Haha, oh, you’re definitely your father’s son,” Tim chuckled. “But if you don’t need anything changed, then we can make our way back to the command center.”

“All right, sounds good.”

With Jon feeling satisfied with his uniform, the group makes their way back to the command center, where they’re greeted by Sandra. Sandra just couldn’t keep a warm smile off her face, as the excitement of Jon joining the team is really starting to get to her as well. “You look like a natural in that uniform, Jon,” She said.

“Oh, uh, thank you, President Maxwell,” Jon said.

“You’re really a part of us now!” Amanda said. “I just can’t wait for us to do stuff together!”

“The assistance you provided today will no doubt play a big role for the team going forward,” Taylor said.

“Indeed,” Amber said. “I don’t think I need to add anything to what I’ve said to you already. You already know how excited and supportive I am of you joining us!”

“And now the team is complete!” Antone said. “I don’t think there is anyone better than Jon to fill the role of the Blue Ranger.”

“I agree with all of the points you all have made,” Sandra said. “Jon, now that you’re a part of the Pokémon Rangers Z-Force, a new story begins for you starting today. There will be days that have easy missions that can be tackled in a matter of minutes. Other days will see you and your team take on missions that span days and push you to your absolute limits. You will be encountering foes of all shapes and sizes, like the monster you helped defeat today. By being a part of this very team, you’re willing to put your life on the line to protect the people and Pokémon of not only Castelia City, but the entirety of the Unova region. Throughout your time as the Blue Z-Force Ranger, you will see yourself grow as a person, and as a Pokémon Trainer. There will be times where you will have to rely on your Pokémon for missions. There will be times where you have to rely on your teammates for missions. The fact is: This is no one-person job. This is a job that will require all five of you to work together to fight for the good of Unova. I expect nothing but the best from you and full cooperation between you and your teammates. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am!” Jon firmly answered. “I promise I will do my best to not let you or my teammates down!”

“Then welcome to the team.”

“Thank you. It’s a real honor to be here.”

“Now, I’m sure you want to get started on your first proper mission as soon as possible, but first we have to get you trained-'' Sandra was saying before she was interrupted by blaring from the command center’s computer. “What now?”

“Looks to be a distress signal from Chargestone Cave,” Tim said, loading up the coordinates of where the alert was sent from.

“Got it. Well Jon, I know you haven’t even done proper training yet, but are you ready to take on your first mission as a proper Ranger with your team?”

“Definitely,” Jon answered. “I can always rely on my new friends to teach me like what they’ve done already today.”

“Not a problem!” Amber said.

“We’ve got your back, Jon!” Antone said.

“We’ll teach you all that you need!” Amanda said.

“All right, then I guess we’re ready to go!” Taylor said.

“Good,” Sandra said. “In that case… Z-Force Rangers, move out!!”

“Right!” All five Rangers said together before leaving the command center, heading out on their first full mission together.

End of Chapter 2